Page 71 of Harmless
Rori sighed, brought a hand to her forehead, and muttered something like, “Oh my fucking God.” When she looked up again, her tone was seething. “Why. Are you trying to undermine me. In the first fucking meeting of my club?”
“I wasn’t,” I said with a shrug. “I was just making an observation, that’s all.”
“Hell of an observation from the guy who wanted to kill Nella before I could get any information at all!” She was shouting now and pacing the room aggressively. “You have no fucking right to have an opinion on the amount or quality of information I got just because you’re bitter that I made you wait to get it in the first place.”
“Okay,” I said passively, strangely captivated by her aggressive body language, the anger roughening her voice.
Rori threw her hands up and tilted her head to the ceiling. “Why are you still here, Devin? No one’s holding a gun to your head. You don’t like me, don’t want to ride in my club, fine! Just fucking leave then.”
“I’m not leaving Santos behind.” It made perfect sense in my head up until this very moment. Now it sounded a bit silly.
Rori let out a dry scoff. “Santos doesn’t need you anymore.”
“We’ve had each other’s backs for years, through all kinds of trials. This is just one more.” And because I couldn’t stop myself, I added, “Besides, I don’t trust you with him.”
Rori scoffed again, rolling her eyes. “What are you, his mother? He’s a grown-ass man, and believe it or not, I’m not manipulating him into anything. If he doesn’t want to be with me, he also doesn’t have to stay.” She cocked her head, making a blond wave fall across one eye. “I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted that you think I’m some siren with a magical charm that brings all these men under my control.” She straightened, regarding me coolly. “Sorry to disappoint, Devin. I’m just a person.”
“I don’t think there’s anything magical about you.” Shit, why did I sound so damn defensive?
“I don’t care what you think of me, quite frankly. I have more important things to worry about.” She walked directly up to me, her gaze and expression unwavering. I had a few inches of height on her, though she was still tall for a woman. Somehow, though, she held the same space and gravity as a seven-foot tall gladiator.
“Hate and antagonize me all you want, I don’t care. See what it does to your friendship with Santos. If that breaks down, you’ll have only yourself to blame. But what I’m not going to tolerate is you trying to make me look incompetent in front of my club. Am I clear, Devin?”
“Crystal,” I said.
She jerked her chin toward the door. “You’re dismissed.” With that, she turned and walked quickly through the house. I heard a back or side door open, then slam shut. Then it was just the silence of an empty house.
Damn. I had pissed her off so much, she didn’t even want to walk through the same door as me.
I went out through the front and decided to do a perimeter walk to clear my head. That…what I’d done in that meeting and just moments ago, was not like me. I had lived this long as a gladiator bynotstirring shit up,notdrawing attention to myself. I knew how to keep my trap shut and not poke bears. Okay, I messed with other fighters sometimes, but that was to show that I wasn’t timid. We all had to make power plays sometimes. I could hold my own in a fight and was not to be fucked with.
And neither was Rori, evidently.
She was tough for a woman. Crass, hot-tempered, and more foul-mouthed than a lot of men I’d known. For some reason, I found this hard to reconcile with her softer side—the way she smiled at Santos, how protective she was of the maid, Paige, and the rare moments when she actually spoke softly. It was so strange to me, paradoxical even. How could she be both of those people at the same time?
On a logical level, I knew it was possible. Santos was a ruthless fighter, but he also had the warmth and non-violent instincts of a teddy bear. I, too, had just as much capacity to kill as I did to care. People could be opposing things at the same time. I knew this.
So why did Rori’s qualities confound me so much?
She claimed to not have any magic, and yet that woman had embedded herself firmly under my skin.
It was so fucking annoying.
24
RORI
“They’re not ready,” Torr muttered under his breath.
“How does that saying go?” I walked up behind Paige, gently lifting and straightening her arms while she aimed her gun at a target, then stepped back beside Torr. “What they lack in experience, they make up for in enthusiasm.”
He groaned. “That literally only applies to sex. Not battle.”
Paige squeezed off a few rounds. She was still jumpy from the noise of the shots, which affected her aim, but she was getting better.
“Good job, babe.” I squeezed her shoulder as she set the gun down to reload, then continued my walk with my VP.
My first love.
